Judge, 1926-08-14 · page 21 of 36
Judge — August 14, 1926 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous anecdote from *Judge* magazine titled "Haste Makes Waste." The joke hinges on a pun: when Mrs. Minkowitz asks her son Robin if he's seen a "burial at sea," he misunderstands (or pretends to) and replies about a "wake all the way over"—a double meaning referring both to a funeral vigil and to being awake during an ocean voyage. The accompanying illustration shows a woman in a large hat standing in water with two children, labeled "Having a Barrel of Good Clean Fun?"—suggesting wholesome family entertainment. The framing text recommends giving books as holiday gifts rather than practical items like jackknives, positioning this joke as wholesome family humor. The punchline's dark undertone (a child's supposed misadventure) paired with the upbeat caption exemplifies early 20th-century satirical magazine humor: mildly irreverent wordplay presented as innocent entertainment.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
JUDGE | — Ss “=| SN SSS CA ee SS HAVING A BARREL OF Geend CLEAN FuN?>— HASTE MAKES WASTE A good book is ofttimes a much better holiday present than a jackknife, as the following “wheeze” shows. Mrs. Minkowitz, 1524 Grand Concourse, asked her son, “Tell me, Robin, have you ever seen a burial at sea?” Robin gave her a warning look and replied, ‘No, but during one trip I took to Europe, there was a wake all the way over.” Mrs. Minkowitz visits Robin every day in the hospital and brings him fruit and flowers. 19 comicbooks.com